East Coast Adventures-Delaware!

Last weekend we headed out on an adventure. Our first thought was to try the Poconos in Pennsylvania, which we have heard are beautiful (especially this time of year), and a fun place to take a hike with the dog (did you really think this trip would exclude the dog?!). Unfortunately, almost every hotel was booked up, so our spontaneous trip almost took a plunge. Luckily Meara can think on her feet, and she set out on a new travel plan (she's pretty good at this stuff, so I just let her take it and run). 

We have a little travel book that suggested Wilmington, Delaware (Delaware being the first state, so full of history), and when we found a Westin Hotel that was dog friendly, we were sold! It was only about a two hour drive (even with some Friday traffic) which is definitely one of those awesome things about the East Coast. It was a beautiful drive down, experiencing the fall colors, and passing through Philadelphia on our way. The weekend promised "Sunny and 70 degree" weather, so we had to take advantage of it! 

The Westin we stayed at was right along the Delaware river, with a great "River Walk" trail. Wilmington seemed like a great little town (although being the largest city in Delaware). Meara, being the investigative person she is, quickly found that Wilmington maybe wasn't as "charming" as we thought. She reported that in 2012 it was named the nation's most dangerous city on a per-capita basis. In 2014, it was rated the most dangerous small city in the country. Well okay then, I think we will just stay in and get room service! (It didn't really slow us down, we just kept Moxie close by, no one is going to mess with a dog like her)

The first day we explored the town a bit, and found a nice big park to explore. 

They built this water tower/observation deck back in the early 1900's. It still serves as the town water tower, holding about 500,000 gallons of water. 

There were some huge, gorgeous houses all along the park.  Some of these were incredible, and you could tell they had been there for a LONG time! 

After the park, we went back and walked along the "River Walk."  There was this cool ship that was a replica of the ship that the first Deutsch settlers of this area came over on.  

After a wonderful afternoon, we decided it was time for dinner (rather I decided it was time for dinner!). So once again Meara worked her magic and found a great little place that had quite the intriguing menu.  What really made me want to go was the Kangaroo they had on the menu! So thus our dinner in Delaware:

We started off with a sampler plate of Buffalo, Elk, and Pheasant sausage. The Buffalo was excellent, as was the Elk. The Pheasant was good as well, but you mainly tasted the herbs and spices that they put in to making the sausage. Our favorite was the Buffalo!

Meara followed it up with a nice cheese plate. Maybe a little boring considering what else was on the menu, but man did she love it!

The main course for me was a Rabbit Burger.  I know, sounds a little strange, and maybe you are picturing the little guy hopping around, but it tasted pretty good! It was definitely the gamiest taste of all the meats of the night, and not sure that I would order it again, but it was fun to try! (You may notice at this point that no Kangaroo made it to the table. This was disappointing, so a trip back is needed to get the Kangaroo!)

Day 2:

There were a couple of huge mansions that we wanted to visit, but unfortunately all the tickets for the day were sold out. So we headed out to the Brandywine Battlefield, which was the site of a one day battle during the Revolutionary War. 

The Brandywine Battle was the largest one day battle during the Revolutionary War. Unfortunately, Washington suffered a significant loss on this day, and the British continued from here to take Philadelphia.  It was a little crazy to see that Washington lost about 700 troops this day, and when you compare that to later wars in our history, this would not have been considered a huge loss. 

Meara (and the dog) are standing in front of Washington's headquarters.  This was a family's farm, so he slept outside in a tent, and set up his workroom in their dining room. 

The front of the house. 

Up the hill, there was another family farm set up. The Gilpin family settled on this land, and lived in a cave just up from the barn in the background.  The parents lived in the cave with their son, and their son eventually started to build the barn and the house, and finally finished them after the parents had passed away. So the parents lived out the entirety of their new life in America in a cave!

The homestead in the background. 

A very picturesque setting. Hard to believe a major battle took place here!

This tree on the property has been there since the signing of our Constitution! 

By the end of the day, the weather was changing, and the clouds were rolling in. Our cue to head home!

New York, New York

When our move eastward became official, the one comment we received from just about everyone we talked to was, "Oh great! I can't wait to come visit you guys in New York!" Never mind that we actually live in New Jersey... the common consensus among our friends and family was that, with New York City in our backyard, we would be fun to visit and could easily engage with all that NYC has to offer. With this knowledge, we decided that we had to check out NYC so that we would prepared when we get visitors to make it up to the city and back.

On Thursday, we hopped the train into the city for a day of adventuring. After a train ride and a subway ride, we started our adventure in Central Park and a quick lunch at the New York staple, Shake Shack. Burgers and fries in tow, we grabbed a bench in Central Park and chowed down. Honest review: Shake Shack is really good and reasonably priced. It reminds me of an east-coast In-n-Out Burger: a somewhat small menu, but everything made its fresh and fabulous. Four stars.

Shake Shack!

Enjoying our lunch on the edge of Central Park.

Making our way through the park...

After lunch, we decided to take a walk through Central Park. It's amazing how quiet and serene the park is. In fact, Kevin and I kept commenting how it did not feel like we were in the middle of one of the most populous cities in the western hemisphere. Of course, that changed pretty quickly when we exited the park and headed for our next stop--Serendipity 3, home of the world's most expensive ice cream sundae (The Golden Opulence--spoiler alert: we did not order this) and the famous frrrrozen hot chocolate (spoiler alert: we DID order this and it was amazing). Between the frrrrrozen hot chocolate and the humble pie sundae, we definitely consumed our fair share of sugar and calories. It was so worth it, though! Best dessert I've had in a looong time. Five stars.

The Humble Pie Sundae--a piece of "humble pie" (peanut butter pie on a graham cracker crust) topped with hot fudge, banana, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and cherry. So decadent!

The famous Frrrrrrozen Hot Chocolate! Like a richer, chocolatier Wendy's frosty... And way more delicious...

From Serendipity 3, we waddled our way down 5th Avenue to Rockefeller Center, with stops to visit FAO Swartz and Trump Tower, and to window shop at Cartier and Tiffany's. Rockefeller center was hopping, and we wandered from there to Times Square. Again, hopping! It was at this moment that we both really began to feel like we were in the heart of New York City.

Kev in Toyland...

Exploring Trump Tower and its bronzy-gold opulence.

Rockefeller Center!

In a weeks, this will be transformed into the iconic winter ice skating rink and giant Christmas tree!

Radio City Music Hall--just across the street from Rockefeller Center.

Times Square! The quintessential NYC experience... Hard to believe that last time we were in Times Square, we were driving though it...

A quick subway ride later, we ended our day with a sobering visit to the World Trade Center Memorial and the Financial District. I was struck by how much development and rebuilding has taken place at Ground Zero. I never had the opportunity to visit the World Trade Center before 9/11, but comparing the footprint pre-9/11 and post-9/11, its amazing how that area has transformed so much in 13 years. Truly phoenix-like how a commercial and economic hub has risen out of the ashes of the Twin Towers.

Memorial in honor of the firemen who died responding to 9/11.

Rebuilding at Ground Zero.

One of the World Trade Center memorials...

Kev and the Wall Street Bull... It was smaller than we'd both imagined.

Enjoying exploring and dining in the Financial District.

One last shot of Kev! Enjoying our BBQ dinner outside in a back alleyway.

We grabbed dinner in the Financial District along with all of the day-traders enjoying a drink after work. It was like a scene from a movie--loud men and women in suits, drinks in hand, rehashing and replaying the vast sums of money lost or gained all in days work. Somewhat surreal. Overall, a successful adventure. Looking forward to hitting up some other New York favorites, like the Empire State Building, Broadway, Battery Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty, MoMA, the Museum of Natural History, etc. etc. etc. And for those of you who want to come visit: We're officially open for business and will be happy to provide tour and transportation services to NYC.

-Meara